How To Sketch or Draw Profile Pictures In Pencil

The picture I choose to show you is a sketch or profile portrait I drew of an up and coming vocal band that has been taking the mid western states by storm. They call themselves The Dweebs and act the part but boy can they perform. Anyway, that's besides the point, this hub is about drawing profile pictures or faces of people.

I may not be the most talented person but I truely love to draw and it seems to come easy for me. All I have to do is look at something and I can usually bring it to life on paper within a matter of minutes. Sometimes it takes a little longer, especially if I'm drawing from a picture of someone I personally know. That sounds kind of silly but it's true. I do better drawing from memory than I do looking at a picture of someone. I guess that's because a photo doesn't catch the persons personality which you can usually see in your minds eye. So like I said, sometimes I have to look away and visualize in my mind what that person really looks like.

A regular old No.# 2 pencil is all you really need to draw with. You know the kind, the ones your teacher in grade school insisted you use for all your homework back in the day.

I mostly use regular old poster paper that can be purchased at most dollar stores or thrift stores for less than a buck. And of course the trusty eraser. Soft pliable ones work best.

Ok, now you're ready to start drawing. I know some people start their portraits with the eyes and some start with an out line of the face, I've never paid that much attention to where I start. I guess it just depends on what catches my attention first.

I think if you're just beginning to draw, maybe it would be easiest to start with an eye and draw the rest of the face around that starting point. Plus, eyes are the most interesting part to draw. Once you get an eye drawn in, you can softly shadow the inside corners of the eye to build up the bridge of the nose. I use my pencil lightly then use my finger tip to finish the shading in.

If you look closely at the peoples noses in my portrait, you will see that you don't actually draw a nose, you shade the sides and around the nose to form it.

Many people say that faces are one of the hardest things to sketch. I actually think faces are one of the easiest things to draw. You want to talk about something hard to draw with pencil? Try drawing waves with white caps rolling onto a sandy beach.

Anyway, back to talking about profile sketches. Lets discuss drawing in the mouths. Unlike the nose, I do lightly draw in the lips then shade it in, using my finger to shadow. I also us my eraser to highlight.

As you may have noticed, I use my finger tips quit a bit for shadowing and shading in areas. I know most professional artist use various brushed but my fingers do the trick for me. Maybe that's why I'm not a pro at this?

I guess the best advise I can give you is to learn to draw from your minds eye. Try to actually visualize in your mind how something should look. Don't be afraid to make mistakes because as long as there are erasers, there are no unfix-able errors.

If you attempt to draw a face from looking at a photo of someone and it just isnt turning out right, try looking away and drawing from memory. You will be surprised how much better it will turn out.

Well that's it for now. Hope I was a little help to someone.